Basin wiki · Animals
Desert kit fox
Vulpes macrotis · Vulpes macrotis arsipus
A small nocturnal fox of the creosote flats. Easy to confuse with a coyote pup, and not the endangered San Joaquin kit fox.
Where you'll see it
Desert kit foxes live in burrows on open creosote ground, including the eastern basin and the park, and they are mostly out at night. The park’s animal overview lists foxes among the mammals people rarely see. Headlights on a dirt road north of Twentynine Palms or in Wonder Valley are a more likely introduction than a daytime walk. A burrow with a small entrance in a bank, sometimes with tracks and scat nearby, is the daytime evidence.
How to tell it from a coyote
An adult kit fox is cat-sized to small-dog-sized, with very large ears, a narrow muzzle, and a bushy tail often tipped in black. A coyote pup can share the big-ear look for a few weeks and is stockier, with a broader muzzle. Fish and Wildlife notes that people pick up coyote pups thinking they are orphaned foxes or dogs. If you are not sure, leave it. Adults of either species are usually the ones feeding it.
A different fox than the one in the news
The San Joaquin kit fox is an endangered subspecies of the San Joaquin Valley. The animal in the Morongo Basin is the desert kit fox. Protections still apply: it is native wildlife, dens matter, and rodent poisons on a homestead move up the food chain into foxes and coyotes. Collapsing a burrow to “solve” a hole near the shed can be a den with kits. If a den is truly under a foundation, call animal control or a permitted wildlife handler instead of filling it.
What they eat
Kit foxes hunt kangaroo rats, other small rodents, insects, and some fruit. That is the reason a healthy fox on the lot is an asset, and the reason leaving dog food on the porch is a problem. They do not need a water bowl from you. Secure trash, bring small pets in, and keep the same distance you would with a coyote. Photos from a door camera are plenty of contact.